Attachment plug with cord grip

ABSTRACT

The invention is an attachment plug for an appliance or the like, the plug having an integral cord grip formed on its side and an open channel to grip a single conductor or one-half of a flat two-conductor cord to lock the plug on the cord when not in use. The grip is formed to serve a dual purpose of both clamping the cord and providing a finger gripping means to remove the plug and is so disposed that the cord remains untwisted when it is clamped by the plug.

United States Paten 1191 Davidson [541 ATTACHMENT PLUG WITH CORD GRIP [75] Inventor:

[7 3] Assignee: General Electric Company,

- Bridgeport, Conn.

[22] Filed: 7 June 11, 1971 [2]] Appl. No.: 152,077

[52] US. Cl ..339/62, 174/135, 339/119 C, 339/147 C [51] Int. Cl. ..HOlr 13/60 [58] Field of Search....339/45, 46, 62, 101, 102, 103, 339/119 C, 147 C, 157 C; 174/135 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,182,446 12/1939 Nelson 3,427,553

....339/119 C 2/1969 Smulowitz et al ..3 39/l03 R William E. Davidson, Ontario, Calif.

.... 3,725,848 51 Apr. 3, 1973 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,195,844 7/1965 Germany ..339/119C 1,293,275 1 4/1969 Germany ..339/119 C Primary Examiner-Joseph H. McGlynn Attorney-Lawrence -R. Kempton, Leonard J. Platt, John F. Cullen, Frank L. Neuhauser, Oscar B. Waddell and Joseph B. Forman [5 7] ABSTRACT The invention is an attachment plug for an appliance orthe like, the plug having an integral cord grip formed on its side and an open channel to grip a single conductor or one-half of a flat two-conductor cord to lock the plug on the cord when not in use. The grip is formed to serve a dual purpose of both clamping the cord and providing a finger gripping means to remove the plug and is so disposed that the cord remains untwisted when it is clamped by the plug.

1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1 Field of the Invention DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The invention is generally applicable to a small ap- The invention is directed to a molded attachment 5 pliance where the electric cord is wound around the applug for an appliance or the like with a flat two-wire cord extending therefrom. The plug is formed with an integral cord gripping means to clamp one conductor only of the two-conductor cord, the gripping means being disposed on the side of the clamp 50 the cord remains untwisted when clamped. The gripping means is also disposed to form a convenient finger grip for plug removal.

2. Description of the Prior Art It is common in the electrical connector field to provide the usual appliance cord with a male plug on the end and a gripping means on the plug for convenient attachment to lock itself on the cord when the appliance is not in use. Generally, such a locking means is a resilient portion that snaps over the entire cord to lock the plug thereon. Such gripping means is used whether the cord is round as on an electric flat iron or the flat two-wire ripable cord better known as lamp cord which generally has a dumbbell-like cross section as seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,032,740 of common assignment. Additionally, flat plugs or those with extensions on the side to provide convenient finger grips are in wide use; The flat two-conductor cord is, more easily twisted thus putting more strain on the individual strands of wire and must be particularly placed in the gripping portion when used with a clamping attachment plug.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly described, the invention is directed to an attachment plug that comprises a flat molded plug housing with the usual contact prongs extending from one end and a flat two-conductor cord extending from the opposite end usually with the wide dimension of the cord and, the plug and the prongs all being in generally parallel planes. The plug has an integral cord gripping means extending from one side and forming an open channel that extends parallel to the prongs and cord. The channel is formed withlips on it to grasp not over substantially half of the flat cord and hold it on the side of the plug in a plane parallel to the plane of the cord when it leaves the plug. Additionally, the cord gripping means performs the dual function of a finger grip for plug removal. The cord gripping means is formed so the cord requires no twisting to lock onto the plug. Thus, the main object of the invention is to provide an attachment plug that has a cord gripping means forming the dual function of a finger grip for plug removal as well as a cord grip that clamps on only half of a conventional two-conductor cord whereby minimum plug material is used, convenient clamping is obtained, and no objectionable. twisting of the conductor cord is involved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an attachment plug with the integral cord gripping means on one side;

FIG. 2 is an end view showing the gripping of a single conductor of the two-conductor cord; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the attachment plug in cord gripping position with the cord untwisted.

pliance and the plug is clamped to its own cord for convenient storage. It should be noted that a flat two-conductor cord is described for convenience as the common lamp-type flat cord without a ground wire 10, although such may be present if appropriate and is intended in the term.

Referring to FIG. 1, the attachment plug consists of a molded plug housing 10 of elastomeric or plastic material having an end with contact prongs 12 extending therefrom and having a flat two-conductor cord 14 extending from the opposite end, the planes containing both being generally parallel. Commonly, the plug is of the flat type as shown and this forms the generally well known male plug. The planes of the wide dimension of the cord, the plug, and the two electrical prongs all lie in substantially parallel planes as seen in FIG. 1. As noted, a third grounding prong not shown may be used.

In order to store the plug on its own cord 14, there is provided an integral cord gripping means 16 that extends from the side of the plug and is provided with an open channel 18 so that the gripping means is formed with preferably flexible lips 20 on each side thereof. Channel 18 is'preferably longer than it is wide extending in its long dimension parallel to the prongs and the cord as shown.

The plug may be naturally removed or inserted in receptacles at counter top level by the usual finger recesses on its side .for the thumb and forefinger as shown in FIG. 1. As well known, this hand position tends to be awkward and uncomfortable when bending down to remove a plug from a wall receptacle just above floor level.

In order to conserve material, cord gripping means 16 extends only about half the distance of conventional structures. This smaller extension thus enables the plug to be lighter and less expensive. In addition, by locating it on the side as shown so the gripping means 16 extends from the plug in the wide dimension plane, it also forms a natural and comfortable grip for the thumb or forefinger for removal of the plug from lower wall receptacles. In other words, because the plug rests in a wall receptacle with its wide dimension parallel to the floor, the side location of gripping means 16 enables the user to grasp the plug on each side where the thumb and forefinger are rotated either way from the position of FIG. 1 and easily insert or remove with a hand motion that is much more natural and comfortable for the user when bending over. By having the cord gripping means 16 extend only half the usual distance, it will be apparent from FIG. 2, that the channel 18 will grasp or clamp on about half of the flat cord or on only one conductor thereof and will hold the cord on the side of the plug in a plane parallel to the plane that the cord leaves the plug as shown in FIG. 3. Furthermore, no matter how the plug is pushed onto the cord it will always naturally align itself on only one conductor and this is shown in FIG. 2 and the proper alignment is ensured by making the channel longer than wide so the cord does not longitudinally twist therein. In such a two-conductor cord it is desirable to keep the conductors parallel to the direction that they leave the attachment plug itself because the flat cord is particularly sensitive to compression loads and by keeping the conductors parallel there is no twist to put the individual strands in the conductors under compression. Thus, in a typical appliance such as an electric flatiron wherein the cord is wound around the iron when it is put away,

. FlG. 3, while showing an awkward winding", illustrates the parallel clamping and shows how the wound cord will naturally align itself so that the cord gripping means on the attachment plug may be clamped on half an adjacent portion of the cord without ever twisting the cord.

Thus, the present invention shows a plug that uses a minimum amount of material and has a unique cord gripping means that serves as a finger portion for removing the plug from the wall and, at the same time, provides a single conductor clamp to ensure no twisting of the cord conductors but positive clamping on the cord when the appliance is not in use.

While there has been described a preferred form of the invention, obvious equivalent variations are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practised, otherwise then as specifically described, and the claims are intended to cover such equivalent variations.

I claim: I v 1 1. An attachment plug comprising a flat,molded plug housing with contact prongs extending from a first end of said housing and a flat two-conductor cord extending from a second end of said housing, both the contact prongs and the cord lying in planes substantially parallel to the wide-dimension plane of the plug housing;

said housing comprising in the wide dimension plane of the plug, a first pair of opposed-surfaces, said 7 surfaces containing finger recesses; said housing further comprising a second pair of opposed surfaces, each of said second pair of surfaces connecting said first pair ofsurfaces; a dual purpose cord and finger gripping means formed integrally with and extending from one of said second pair of surfaces; 7 an open channel in said gripping means extending substantially the length of the plug parallel to said prongs and cord; said channel fonned with a pair of lips disposed proximate said second end so as to provide a surface on said gripping means, between said first end and said pair of lips, of a length sufficient to permit positioning of i a finger thereon whereby said gripping means forms a grip for plug removal; said lips being of sufficient lengthto extend over and grasp not over substantially half of said flat cord and hold said cord in a plane parallel to the plane said cord extends from said plug, whereby said plug housing can be locked on said cord with no twisting thereof. I 1 a i a: is 

1. An attachment plug comprising a flat, molded plug housing with contact prongs extending from a first end of said housing and a flat two-conductor cord extending from a second end of said housing, both the contact prongs and the cord lying in planes substantially parallel to the wide-dimension plane of the plug housing; said housing comprising in the wide dimension plane of the plug, a first pair of opposed surfaces, said surfaces containing finger recesses; said housing further comprising a second pair of opposed surfaces, each of said second pair of surfaces connecting said first pair of surfaces; a dual purpose cord and finger gripping means formed integrally with and extending from one of said second pair of surfaces; an open channel in said gripping means extending substantially the length of the plug parallel to said prongs and cord; said channel formed with a pair of lips disposed proximate said second end so as to provide a surface on said gripping means, between said first end and said pair of lips, of a length sufficient to permit positioning of a finger thereon whereby said gripping means forms a grip for plug removal; said lips being of sufficient length to extend over and grasp not over substantially half of said flat cord and hold said cord in a plane parallel to the plane said cord extends from said plug, whereby said plug housing can be locked on said cord with no twisting thereof. 